INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
whilst simultaneously disclosing it has raised $3 million in seed funding.Notably, the round is led by Index Ventures
The London and San Francisco-based VC appears to be particularly bullish on electric-powered mobility, recently backing electric scooter
Elziere (eFounders), Bertrand Jelensperger (LaFourchette), Harold Mechelynck (Ogone), Frederic Potter (Netatmo) and Francis Nappez
(BlaBlaCar).Founded by Adrien Roose and Karim Slaoui, who both previously co-founded Take Eat Easy, an early Deliveroo competitor, and
Tanguy Goretti, who was previously co-founded ridesharing startup Djump, Cowboy has set out to build and sell a better designed e-bike that
constrains differentiation, but also price, since most of the margin goes to parts suppliers and retailers
and where the product is sold directly online, the team believed there was an opportunity to re-define the e-bike category entirely.The
technology that measures speed and torque, and adjusts to pedaling style and force to deliver an added boost of motor-assisted speed at key
when you start pedaling, accelerate or go uphill.In addition, the Cowboy is attempting to be more secure thanks to its connectivity
You unlock the bike via the Cowboy smart phone app, which also supports on-board navigation and a data dashboard that tracks speed and other
useful stats.It is also worth noting that this is definitely a vertical platform in the longer-run
That IoT-styled SIM card and GPS have been added to the e-bike for a reason
offered on top, such as bike insurance, perhaps.The battery is said to be good to go for around 50km, and takes 2.5 hours to fully charge
As part of the bespoke design, it is integrated into the frame under the saddle and is easily removable
The Cowboy claims to be one of the lightest urban electric bikes on the market, too (the bike and battery together weigh 16kg).However, as
EuroBike trade fair in July 2017.He also echoes this sentiment when I ask him to tell the story of how the Cowboy team first got the
attention of Index Ventures
backers for enough follow-on investment to do a production run and small launch in Belgium
However, knowing that hardware is, well, hard, and that costs can easily overshoot, the company was advised by Hardware Club (who he says
has been instrumental in making Cowboy a reality) to find a larger VC backer to mitigate this risk
Index partner Martin Mignot, who led the round, was immediately interested and then convinced after actually trying the e-bike, but Roose
says that it took a lot more to persuade the rest of the Index team to back Cowboy when he subsequently pitched the startup over a video
If you really need to touch the device to truly appreciate it, how will the startup sell directly online In Brussels, Roose says the startup
device to a prospective buyer to try beforehand
Meanwhile, the company is only delivering to Belgium for now, but with capital in the bank it plans to launch more widely in Europe next
